Criminal Justice News

Wednesday, April 09, 2014

Former South Carolina Corrections Officer Sentenced for Beating Inmate with Mental Illness

Robin Smith, 38, a former corrections officer at the Alvin S. Glenn
Detention Center in Richland County, S.C., was sentenced to serve 24
months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release
today in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina in
Columbia for assaulting a pre-trial detainee with mental illness. Smith
previously pleaded guilty to violating the detainee’s civil rights.

On Feb. 11, 2012, while working as a corrections officer at the Alvin S.
Glenn Detention Center, Smith used unreasonable, unprovoked force
against an inmate with mental illness. During the course of a routine
search of the victim’s cell, Smith twisted the victim’s wrist and arm
and kicked him in the upper body. During the assault, the victim was
lying on the floor of the cell with one hand cuffed, was not combative
and posed no threat to Smith.

“The overwhelming majority of correctional officers dispatch their
difficult duties with honor and professionalism,” said Acting Assistant
Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels for the Civil Rights Division. “The
Justice Department will aggressively prosecute those who cross the line
to engage in acts of criminal misconduct.”

“What Robin Smith did was wrong,” said U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles for
the District of South Carolina. “At the base level, Mr. Smith kicked a
man around who was so mentally ill he could not understand or follow the
directions Smith was giving him. No just society can allow that kind
of conduct on the part of a corrections officer to go unpunished.”

“Aggressive investigation of civil rights violations is a priority of
the FBI and we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners
to ensure the public’s trust in law enforcement is not compromised by
the type of behavior demonstrated in this case,” said FBI Acting Special
Agent in Charge Ann Colbert.

Today’s sentence resulted from the investigative work of the FBI and the
Richland County Sheriff’s Office. U.S. Attorney Nettles thanked
Sheriff Lott and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department for their
commitment to the investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Trial
Attorneys Jared Fishman and Nicholas Murphy for the Civil Rights
Division and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Beth Drake.